Here it is! At long last the sequel to The Story of a Fallen Star! Thank you all so much for all your beautiful reviews you wrote for me throughout the duration of that fic. The sequel wouldn't even exist if not for you.
As always feedback (and suggestions) are much appreciated, I read every review and I really do adore them
xoxo
Enjoy!
Suddenly without a hint of warning, in the darkest reaches of space, Nothingness awoke. It seemed to take in a deep breath which made the light of the distant stars quiver. In that moment there was something there that was more than nothingness – more than emptiness – and yet, it was without being. It both was and was not. It was a presence and nothing more.
And yet, it had weight. It could move... It was aware... Though it did not – could not – exist, it felt.
And what it felt was rage. Hatred. It came like a tiny spark at first but then it grew. It swirled and pulsed and bulked until it made the nothingness feel solid and real. Total abhorrence. Unfilterable and white hot, it seeped out of the nothingness and infected everything around it. This sheer, overwhelming force of pure emotion willed the nothingness forward. It drifted through the space around it, slow yet powerful, like sickness.
It was weak – dying, perhaps – and yet it carried on. It had purpose.
It moved slowly, drifting steadily forward through the emptiness of space for years… decades… centuries. And as it moved, it became conscious of a light in the distance, though it couldn't see it. It felt it. Something that seemed to be alive – ablaze. Pure energy. Warm and cold all at once. A repulsive beauty...
A star.
The realisation sent another pulse of loathing through the entity and it surged towards the terrible light. Streaming forward with a purpose at last; something to consume. Anger and rage and determination was all that existed within the entity and when at last it reached the star, the nothingness surrounded it entirely. Entombed it within itself. It's darkness clouding out every last ray of light the star had to give.
And then, ever so slowly, it drank in the energy of the star.
Devoured it.
As the nothingness fed upon the dying light until once again everything was dark, it had a thought…
I have been wronged. I am more than this.
A shadow of a memory came to the nothingness; a piercing pain through it's her chest. The last thing it shehad ever felt before she had be cast out of the realm of the living. She had been more than this. She had been powerful. Beautiful. Mighty.
What had happened to her? Why had it been taken from her?
Slowly, she realised that she could sense that distant, terrible warmth once again. She turned slowly, still nothing more than an entity – a presence – and moved towards another far off star.
When at last she reached the star, she ate it greedily, just as she had the one before it, and then moved towards another. On like this she went for what seemed to be endlessly, each star fuelling her, each star reawakening her memory.
She was growing stronger.
She was remembering.
…she was Karnilla.
And she wanted revenge.
If she thought she had felt rage before, it was nothing to what grew within her now. Pure energy burst out of her, as she released a scream of fury out into the universe, one that every living being heard.
With a deep and deafening rumbling, the mighty being grew larger and larger, eclipsing every star, every planet, every moon. She grew and grew, fuelled by the hatred and the white hot rage that had become all encompassing throughout her growth. And the universe seemed to tremble as Karnilla turned towards Asgard, a distant spec of light a million light years away.
It was nothing to her now.
She was going back.
Not only to Asgard, but to the moment before he had plunged the blade into her. She wanted him to be the first to die. She would tip back the sands of time, unravelling the history that she had missed.
She stronger, louder. Her presence overwhelming.
He would pay.
Loki.
He would die by the hands of the woman who had ruined everything. His Rosa.
She was sheer, unfiltered power. She surged forward through the universe, stars now drifting towards the gravity of her presence and as they came to her, she swallowed them whole, gathering their power.
She would kill every last being that resided in Asgard – every last one – by that little harlot's hand. She would make her watch them scream for her to stop. And then she would conquer the Universe.
The galaxies swirled around her as she shifted through them, willing them to wind themselves backwards as she surged forward, and they bowed to her desires. She allowed her power to seep out, turning all of time backwards to that moment when she'd been in control. That moment when she'd had Rosa's body and Loki had been on his knees before her. She would kill him and she would watch him die with a smile on her face.
Onwards she travelled, towards the Kingdom of the Gods, driven by revenge.
But what Karnilla did not know was that the sands of time are not so easily controlled. She may have willed them in reverse, but they would not stop for her until they saw fit. She had tipped them back and now she had no choice but to let them pour as they would.
Karnilla did not realise that the task was too great for her – that she was going too far back – until it was too late.
The young maid, Rosa, moved silently along the bookshelves, gently brushing away early gatherings of dust here and there. There was little point to it though, the Great Library was always immaculate. She had been overjoyed when she had been assigned to work there – she had always had a great fondness for books. They reminded her of her mother.
She sighed contently to herself. It was a peaceful place to be, and she spent a great deal more time in there than she imagined the maids before her had. There truly was little upkeep to be done. Seldom was the Library entered by anyone other than herself and on the rare occasion that anyone did, they very much kept to themselves.
She smiled a little to herself; it was scarcely possible that anyone should notice if she were to spend a short time reading, herself. True enough, the books in the Great Library were not for the use of commoners – it was in fact prohibited – but she had been assigned to their up keeping. She was allowed to touch them.
She ran a delicate hand reverently along the spines of the books until her motion slowed upon one that seemed to draw her in, deep blue with gold lettering. She pulled it carefully from it's place upon the shelf.
Rosa was just opening the book to the first page when she heard it.
It was soft at first, so soft she wasn't certain she'd even heard anything. A gentle rumbling. But then it seemed to grow stronger, vibrating through her. She looked up with a furrowed brow, scanning her surroundings for the strange noise that was undeniably growing louder.
Her pulse quickened as her eyes fell upon the towering window frames. They were shuddering. And out past them a mighty storm cloud seemed to be brewing. It was thick and black; lightening sparked deep within it, making it seem like a living thing. And it appeared to be moving closer. Quickly.
If Rosa hadn't known better, she'd swear the storm had purpose. A fleeting thought past through her mind that perhaps Prince Thor was summoning the storm but it didn't seem right. There was something evil about it.
And Rosa feared it.
She started to tremble as the storm moved closer, she felt it watching her – wanting her. It ascended suddenly upon the Library with definite intent and Rosa felt the air rush out of her lungs as she was filled with the certainty that she was about to die. The windows shuddered and the entire room with filled with a powerful wind that knocked Rosa into the shelf behind her and then threw her and a great many books to the floor.
Rosa covered her head with her hands and squeezed her eyes shut as she lay frozen in fear; wind and storm and light and power brewing in the space above her.
Then suddenly, there was silence. A rough breeze surged up against Rosa's body one last time but then there was nothing more. It was as if the impossible storm had just… died. Rosa stayed where she was a few moments more before lifting her head and glancing around herself. Aside from the books scattered around her from when she'd crashed into the shelves, all was in order. She swung about to stare up through the windows only to find a beautiful, clear sun shining down upon her – not a cloud in sight.
Slowly, Rosa pulled herself to her feet, fear still clutching her heart. Her legs were weak and shaky and she was suddenly dizzy.
She was overcome by a haziness in her mind and she felt her memory slipping. She gripped the shelf beside her to steady herself, leaning too much weight on it and she only just registered that the remaining books were falling from their place when it was too late to catch them.
The doorhandle clicking open snapped Rosa back to the present.
Loki pushed the door to the Great Library open just in time to see the books toppling from the shelf falling heavily around the handmaiden's feet. She looked utterly shocked as she glanced up at him. The colour drained from her face instantaneously and she fell into a panicked genuflect. The fragile looking girl hurriedly clutched at the books with shaking hands, either unwilling or unable to look up and meet the Prince's eye.
"Forgive me, My Lord." She murmured as she hurriedly gathered the books, her whole body trembling.
Loki scowled.
How many incompetents would he see pass through this Library before they finally put a Book Keeper in here who knew what she was doing? Hers was a new face, the Prince noted. She wouldn't be around for long. He wouldn't stand for his books to be treated like play things, dumped on the ground carelessly to become battered and creased and torn. With no intention of offering help, he swept past, noting with some satisfaction the way that she cringed away from him as he moved. At least the girl had the sense to realise that he was displeased.
When at last the dark Prince had disappeared in amongst the shelves, Rosa breathed a sigh of relief. Of all the times that she might have crossed paths with Royalty, it had to have been when she was experiencing a fainting spell. She blushed with shame as she looked around at the mess she'd made. He must have thought her incompetent.
As she gathered the books as silently as possible, she gazed up through the windows absently… she'd been looking at something… hadn't she? She'd seen something? What was it again? She couldn't remember. She shook her head and the thought along with it. She felt clouded and disorientated. Perhaps she had been day dreaming.
Rosa placed the final book upon the shelf – a book with a rich royal blue cover adorned with a single falling star – and moved away, busying herself with the dusting. Her face burned and she was so filled with embarrassment that she barely even registered the way that her fingertips had tingled almost longingly as she'd held that last book.
For the remainder of the evening, the Prince didn't so much as glance in her direction, not for a moment. Not even as the sun finally began to set and he exited the Great Library.
Ok! So please let me know what you think :) chapter two coming soon!